Gender Bent
by Femtransfan
Summary: Heatwave has an indecent with a not-so-nice machine in Best-Left-Forgotten and has to deal with a slight problem until it is fixed. I was that bored.
1. New Frame

Heatwave felt odd. He was very groggy. He put a hand on his head.

"H-Heatwave?" Blades asked.

"What happened?" the last thing Heatwave remembered was a fire in the Best Left Forgotten section of the Hall of Inspiration. "Are the humans okay?"

"Th-they are," Blades pulled a blanket up to Heatwave's neck.

"What's wrong with my voice?" Heatwave sat up as he put his hand on his neck.

"Don't freak out!"

Heatwave looked down and his optics widened.

He was not the same.

"I'm a femme?!"

"Wow, you're taking it better than I thou- _Ack!_ "Blades was grabbed by the neck by Heatwave.

"What. Happened. To. Me?" Heatwave felt his/her sparkbeat increase.

"Heatwave?" a deep voice said.

Heatwave looked in the direction of the voice. "Optimus? W-what are you doing here?"

"Chase contacted be a short time ago," Prime explained, "I brought our medic, Ratchet, with me. He is going through your files and has been informed of your... condition."

Ratchet walked into the medbay.

"Wow," that was the first thing that Ratchet said.

Heatwave pulled up the blanket all the way to his/her nose.

"We think a machine did this to him - or her!" Blades said.

"Make him stop staring at me," Heatwave whispered uncomfortably.

"Oh, sorry, how rude of me," Ratchet apologized, "I'm going to give you a scan, alright?"

"Normally yes, but no."

"There's nothing to be afraid of, Heatwave," Blades reassured.

"You're not the mech-turned-femme going to be examined by a bot millenniums older than you!"

"Blades did the external examination while you were out," Ratchet said, "and I'm not that old!"

Heatwave glared at Blades.

"At least I'm not an old bot," Blades said.

"Look, like it or not, you're getting a scan," Ratchet pulled Heatwave's blanket down to his/her knees.

xxx

[ how's the - bot, Cody?] read the text from Dani.

[running a scan,] Cody texted back, [how's Kade?]

When one of the machines blew up in Best Left Forgotten, Kade's oxygen tank and air hose broke, causing him to breathe in smoke.

[Could B worse.] [thank got the bot kept him from -ing ]

[rlly? a toast?]

[srry ] [gtg, Kade's up!]

Cody went to the elevator and took it to the bunker.

"Hey, Cody," Boulder said.

"How's Heatwave?" Cody asked.

"You know that Rule 34 thing?"

"It's 63, Boulder," Chase corrected, "34 is... icky."

"Heatwave's a _girl?!_ " Cody's eyes widened.

"I'm looking through a list of machines destroyed in the fire to see if any of them caused it and if it's reversible," Graham said.

xxx

"Hmm..." Ratchet looked at the monitor displaying the scan results.

"Don't worry, Heatwave," Blades said, "we'll fix this."

"The screen's frozen," Heatwave said.

Ratchet kicked the monitor.

"Looks like you're a femme, Heatwave," Ratchet said, "internally and externally."

"B-but it's reversible, right?"

"Graham hasn't found anything yet," Blades said.

"Perhaps you should get some rest in your personal quarters, Heatwave," Optimus said.

"Gladly," Heatwave got of the berth. "Wow, I'm short."

He/she quickly walked off to his/her quarters.

xxx

Later that evening, Heatwave was recharging in his/her berth, but she was tossing and turning.

xxx

 _"Get Kade to safety," Heatwave said, "I'll handle the fire!"  
_  
 _Flames licked his armor._

 _He managed to put out most of the fire._

 _Ssszzzzlzzslszzz..._

 _Smoke got into his eyes, blinding him. He started to cough as the smoke began to disable his cooling systems._

 _BANGFWOSH!_

 _"HEATWAVE!"_

xxx

Heatwave woke up in what humans would call a cold sweat.

He/she wrapped blankets around his/her frame, worried about how his/her team would treat him/her.

xxx

"Graham, Cody and I are going to check on your brother," Chief said in the morning, "are you coming with us?"

"I'm still going through the list, but I'll go later," Graham said.

"Alright then."

"Hmm…" Graham looked at a file of an invention from 1935 that was destroyed in the fire. "Oh, boy," he almost dropped his com link as he turned it on. "Heatwave," he said, "I think I found some information on the machine."

"Was it totaled?" Heatwave asked.

"I think so."

xxx

Heatwave shut off his/her comm and tried not to sob.


	2. Kade and Dani Find Out

"Heatwave, can you come out?" Blades asked.

"No!" Heatwave said.

Blades sighed. "You're scared, aren't you?"

"Yes," Heatwave said a few seconds later.

"If you think you'll be discriminated, you won't."

Heatwave slowly opened the door.

"That's it," Blades extended his hand to walk him/her out.

Heatwave shyly took it.

Blades walked Heatwave into the bunker.

"Hi, Heatwave!" Chase said. "What are you identifying as now?" He then realized what he said. "Sorry."

"I... don't know," Heatwave said with a blush.

"Don't worry," Boulder said, "we'll still have the same platonic relationship we've always had."

"Except you a femme now," Chase said.

Boulder elbowed him in the side.

"I-I'm going to watch TV," Chase turned on the TV.

"Why is there a horse in that house?" Heatwave asked.

"Quincenara?" Boulder suggested.

"That is defiantly child endangerment!" Chase said.

"Well, it's a party horse!" Blades did a little dance.

xxx

Dani got out her phone and called Graham.

" _Emergency dispatch_ ," Graham said.

"It's me, Graham," Dani said.

 _"Oh."_

"Anyway, Kade's getting discharged tomorrow! Isn't that great?"

 _"Oh, yeah, that is great. Gottogo, bye!"_ Vmvv...

"Wonder what that was about?"

xxx

"Guys!" Graham slid down the fire pole. "Kade's coming home tomorrow!"

"Yay!" Blades said. Then he saw the worried look on Graham's face. "I mean, oh, no!"

"Does he know?" Boulder asked. "About Heatwave?"

"No!" Graham said.

"How will he react?" Heatwave started to shiver and sweat. "He'll discriminate me!" He/she clenched his/her head.

"We will insure that will not happen and defend you in the unlikely event that it will," Chase said.

"Dani doesn't know either. Can Ratchet fix Heatwave?" Graham asked.

"No," Heatwave said. "It has to be a medic who's specialized in... This!" He/she gestured at his/her frame.

"Let's watch more TV!" Blades changed the channel. "I got Youtube."

"That is a _lot_ of finches," Graham said.

xxx

"Heatwave?" Cody called out. "Where are you?"

"She's hiding again," Blades said.

"He's okay with being called a 'she'?"

"I don't know."

"So, anyway, Kade's coming tomorrow around lunchtime. Will Heatwave be okay?"

"How will Kade react?" Blades said after a moment.

"Hopefully, he'll be okay with it."

"I hope so, too," a scared female voice said.

"Heatwave?" Blades and Cody said in unison as they saw a red blur run into the ship's entrance to hide.

xxx

"So what's the thing you guys wanted to talk to me about?" Dani asked as she, Cody, and their dad took the elevator to the bunker.

"Well, Heatwave's ... kinda... um..." Chief didn't know what to say.

"You'll see when you look at Heatwave," Cody said.

"Is something wrong with him?" Dani asked.

Chief and Cody looked at each other with an 'oh, boy' look on their faces.

"You'll see," they said in unison.

xxx

"Heatwave?" Chase carefully knocked on their gender bent leader's door. "Can I talk with you?"

"It's unlocked," Heatwave said.

Chase carefully opened the door.

"Are you... okay?"

Heatwave didn't say anything as she lay in bed with a lot of covers.

Chase walked in.

"Kade's back from the hospital," he said, "and Dani is being informed of what happened to you."

"Kade's gonna laugh at me," Heatwave said.

"No he won't," Chase sat on the bed and put a hand on Heatwave's shoulder, "probably."

"Not good enough," Heatwave buried his/her face into the pillow, "and get your hand off me!"

Chase removed his hand.

"Kade might think he's dreaming."

"Still not helping."

"Are you okay with being called a 'she'?" Chase shyly asked.

"Why?" Heatwave sat up.

"B-Blades started using female pronouns when talking about you," Chase immediately got into a body and head protecting mode.

"I... Guess I can deal with it for now," Heatwave said.

Chase let out a sigh of relief. "Phew! I thought you were going to punch me."

Heatwave smirked. "Consider yourself lucky."

xxx

"Come on, Dad," Dani was getting frustrated. "What's the deal with Heatwave?"

"I-it's hard to explain, Dani," Cheif said.

"Ugh!" Dani was getting annoyed.

"Uhm... hey, Dani," a female voice said.

Dani turned around.

"Oh. That's what was had to explain."

xxx

"Hey, little bro!" Kade walked in and gave Graham a noogie.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Graham squirmed.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't know your head was so sore," Kade got a Cola out of the fridge.

"So, are you sure you're okay?" Graham asked.

"Yep!" then Kade coughed and smoke came out his mouth. "Nope!"

xxx

"Alright, Graham. Make sure he's okay," Chief turned off his cell phone. "Turns out Kade _wasn't_ discharged. There was a mix up, he's actually going to be discharged in about a week."

"Phew!" Heatwave was nervous about Kade seeing her.

"So, how are we going to explain a new Rescue Bot?" Dani asked.

"We could say the mech is being repaired and the femme is a back-up," Blades said.

"So, we tell people there are girl versions of you guys?" Dani crossed her arms.

"Yes," Chase said, "as matter of fact, I have a twin sister that looks a lot like me."

"You do?" Boulder asked in surprise.

"Well, in paint job, nowadays," Heatwave said.

"You've met her?" Blades optics widened a bit.

"So, if Chase gets hurt, we can ask his sister to take his place?" Dani asked.

"No, we stopped talking a short while before we left Cybertron," Chase said.

xxx

Heatwave was not in a good mood.

"Hi, Heatwave," Blades said. "How are you?"

"Frag off," Heatwave muttered.

"Okay," Blades said in surprise.

"Sorry, I don't know what's happening to me," Heatwave said. "I think I may be coming down with something."

"What are the symptoms?" Blades took out a mini data-pad.

"Moodiness, cramps, nausea, bloating, and, er, um," Heatwave blushed, "energon leakage." she pointed down.

"I think I know what it is."

"I'm carrying?!"

"No! You're on your femme thing."

"Femme thing?" Heatwave was confused. "What does that even... oh."

"My prescription is that you get fluids in you. It'll help with the cramps."

xxx

"Okay, team," Chief Burns said, "Kade's coming home for real this time in two days. Does anyone have an idea of how we tell him about what happened to Heatwave?"

"I CAN HEAR YOU!" Heatwave's voice traveled from the ship to the bunker.

'Lady thing,' Blades mouthed.

"We could say that Heatwave is still the same bot on the inside but has physically changed on the outside," Chase said.

"But what about th-" Blades began before being cut off by Cody.

"How about we leave out that part?"

"Yeah, he'll figure that out on his own."

xxx

Today was the day. Chief, Chase, and Cody went to pick up Kade.

"Heatwave, I got the info on the Gender Corrector," Graham said.

"Give me the details!" Heatwave eagerly said.

"In 1935, an unnamed man made the machine so that it would change a homosexual person into the opposite gender. His tests were successful on small livestock, but when it was unveiled and a gay man agreed to be the first human patient, it blew the guy up. Now it's illegal to make them. You're stuck."

"What is it with you humans and homophobia?!"

xxx

"Kade, when you see Heatwave, try not to freak out," Chief said to his eldest son in the elevator.

"Why would I freak out?" Kade asked.

"J-just don't," Cody said.

The elevator doors opened.

"Hi, Kade!" Blades said.

"Welcome back!" Graham said.

"You're still not coughing up smoke, right?" Boulder asked.

"Boulder!" Blades, the Burns patriarch, and three youngest said.

"Sorry."

"So, where's Heatwave?" Kade asked.

"Heatwave, you can come out!" Dani asked.

Heatwave shyly walked into the bunker.

Kade had a surprised expression on his face.


	3. T-Cog Problems

"So, this machine turned Heatwave into a girl?" Kade asked as he looked at Graham's tablet.

"Yeah," Graham said.

"And now he's permanently a 'she'?"

Heatwave nodded.

"This'll take some getting used to."

"You're okay with it?" Dani asked.

"Uh, yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you're you!" Heatwave crossed her arms over her chest.

"Look, do any of you remember Jake Lee? He was transgender."

"The line backer in high school?!" Graham was surprised.

"That explains a few things," Dani said.

"Thank Primus that you're used to-" _glruch_ "- oh no!" Heatwave covered her mouth. "Oh no, no, no!" Then she ran out.

"Is she sick?" Kade asked.

"Girl stuff," Blades said.

xxx

Heatwave rested in her quarters.

"Hey, 'Wave!" Kade walked in. "Want to go for a drive?"

"Sure," Heatwave said, "if I still have my alt mode."

"Don't know if we don't try!"

"Ugh! Fine, lets go!"

xxx

"One, two, three!" Heatwave closed her eyes and thought of her earth alt mode. She felt her pistons hiss and her abdomen cramp up. "Gah-ah!" She doubled over. "Nope, can't do it!"

"Try again," Kade said.

"Fine, _Mom,_ " Heatwave focused on her alt mode. She transformed.

"Uhhmm... It's a start."

"I'm a fire response vehicle, right?"

"Be right back."

xxx

"Chase, something's wrong with Heatwave," Kade said.

"What is it?" Chase asked as he put down his data pad.

"When Heatwave tried to transform, _this_ happened," Kade showed Chase a picture of an odd fire truck that was hovering.

"That would be her Cybertronian alt mode."

"Well, she's _supposed_ to be in her earth alt mode."

"Give her time, her body went through a major change."

"Psh! Alright, not like I was planning on Heatwave and Hayley doing girl bonding," Kade covered his mouth.

"You're planning on telling Hayley?"

"Maybe," Kade walked to the elevator.

xxx

Heatwave was in her personal quarters trying to figure out why she had her old alt mode and not her current one.

"Must be my T-cog," she muttered.

She looked at her berth.

"Should get some rest..."

xxx

Cody wanted to go fishing with Kade, as his eldest brother promised they would, but Kade was busy on the phone.

"Kade, you almost ready?" Cody asked.

"Uh, y-yeah. Can you put the old fire truck?" Kade went back to his conversation.

"Sure," Cody took the elevator to the garage and put the fishing equipment in the back of the old fire truck.

"Hey, Cody," Heatwave said when the platform got up from the bunker. "Goin' fishing?"

"Yep, Kade'll be down in a couple minutes," Cody buckled himself in. "Are you going to try and transform again?"

"Heck yeah!" Heatwave cracked her knuckles and attempted to transform.

 _PSNAP!_

"GNYA-HA- _HA_!" Heatwave grabbed her side.

"Are you okay?!"

"Nope, I think I blew out my t-cog!"

xxx

"So, why did Hayley and you break up?" Cody asked.

"Because of the bots!" Kade cast his line. "First, I get the girl of my dreams and then she suspects me of keeping secrets, which I have to so no one freaks out!"

"Maybe you'll get get back together," Cody reeled in his line.

"Grr... She's moving outta state!" Kade recast his line and heard his brother give out a blood-curdling scream. He turned around and saw his brother on the deck screaming and crying in agony.

"My eye! My eye!" Cody held a hand to his right eye. "You hit me in the eye!"

"I-it's probably just a scratch," Kade removed Cody's hand and caught something. Cody's eyeball.

"FUCK!" The two said.


	4. ER Trip

"You did WHAT to Cody?!" Chief Burns exclaimed into the commlink.

"Dad, it was an accident," Kade said, "The doctors will fix it!"

"My eye is in a plastic baggy!" Cody yelled.

xxx

Two RNs, one male and one female, were assisting the new male nurse.

"I've dealt with crazy stuff like this before," the male nurse said as he put down the last year's ER visits on the counter, "it shouldn't be that different."

"My brother needs to get his eyeball back in its socket!" Kade held the baggie with the eye in the male RN's face.

"Fishing mishap?" the RN asked.

"Yeah..."

"I'll page the surgeon," the female RN got on the phone.

"I'm gonna be sick!" the new nurse ran covering his mouth.

xxx

Chase looked at a manga he really wanted to buy on his datapad.

"Chief's not going to buy it, you know?" Blades said.

"Maybe I'll buy it," Chase said.

"W-we don't get paid."

"Oh... right."

"Just use Unix!" Heatwave called from the command center.

"Cody's in the emergency room!" Boulder said via comm.

"What in the AllSpark happened?!" Chase said.

"Kade hit him in the eye with a hook!"

"Oh, Primus..." Heatwave said with a gasp.

"Let's go!" Blades ran to the copter pad.

"Heatwave, we should remain here," Chase said.

"Hey, I can take care of myself!" Heatwave said defensively.

"Look, I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Ugh!" Heatwave rolled her optics.

Xxx

Kade was sitting in the waiting room trying to figure out how to explain exactly what happened to his family when they got there.

"Kade Burns!" his dad stormed in.

"It was a freak accident!" Kade put up his hands in defense. "I didn't mean it!"

"Where's Cody?" Dani asked as calmly as possible.

"Getting his eye put back in."

"I hope there's no permanent damage," Graham said.

Kade sat back down. "I really screwed up this time."

"You think?!" his two siblings said in unison.

"I'm going to check the bots for a minute," Chief Burns said.

xxx

"Chase, what's the password for the boat's camera?" Heatwave asked the police bot.

Chase typed in the password.

"Ew!" Heatwave averted her optics when she saw the fishing mishap.

"I hope he'll recover," Chase said.

"Just got an update on Cody," Blades said. "His eye's back in."

xxx

Heatwave was sprawled on her belly, recharging in her room.

"Boulder you wake her up," Chase whispered.

"You usually wake her up, you do it."

"I don't want to do it this time- Blades, what are you DOING?!"

Heatwave turned around and kicked Blades in the face, who then dropped the bottom of the blanket.

"Sorry!" Blades ran out.

"W-we came to tell you that Cody will be home tomorrow," Chase said.

"Oh, that's good. NOW GET OUT!"

xxx

"What's that thing on your eye, Cody?" Heatwave asked as she knelt down to get a better look at the object.

"It's an eye patch," Cody took it off so Heatwave could get a better look at it. "Uncle Woodrow gave it to me."

"It says, 'Aruba: One Happy Island'," Boulder noted. "I didn't know islands had emotions."

"That's just an expression, Boulder-"

Graham was cut off by a muffled screamed.

xxx

"Ch-Chase," Blades said as he put a hand on his face plates, "W-why did y-you h-hit me?!"

Chase was too mad and stormed out.

"What in the AllSpark happened here?" Heatwave was half in the medbay and the hallway.

"Chase hit me!" Blades whimpered.

"Let me see the damage," Heatwave took Blades' hand off of his face. "It's going to leave a mark."

"Blades, why did Chase hit you?" Dani asked.

"He's been overprotective of Heatwave, lately," Boulder said.

"I kinda looked at her funny," Blades said, "could that be why he hit me?"

"We better look for him," Chief Burns said.

xxx

Chase was in his quarters reading a datapad on how to punish a bot physically without leaving a mark.

"Chase, what were you thinking?" Chief said.

"Blades is your teammate, not your enemy!" Dani said.

"He shouldn't look at Heatwave the way he does," Chase slammed his datapad on a shelf, "I have to protect her!"

"Sheesh!" Kade said. "He's worse than me when Dani was in high school!"

"Yeah, that's true," Dani said.

"Is that why he was held back a year?" Chase asked.

xxx

"Alright, Blades will go on patrol in vehicle mode to hide his injury and Chase will remain here for today and tomorrow," Heatwave said.

"Heatwave, I must obje-"

"Let me finish, Chase! Now, I will be Optimus Prime's base for a T-cog rewiring next week and will be back two to three days post-op. During that time Boulder will be in charge. If I hear that Chase harmed Blades again, he will be put in the brig. Any questions?"

"None," Chase said.

xxx

The night before her surgery, Heatwave had a conversation with Blades.

"I'm really, really, lonely," Blades said. "I need physical contact."

"I'm not going to do it with you," Heatwave crossed her arms.

"I just want to sleep with you, not hook up!"

"Lower your voice."

"Please, just this once?"

Heatwave sighed. "Fine, but if you even-"

"Ew! That would be way too weird!"

"Quiet."

Chase had heard the whole thing.


	5. Evil Twin

Blades was humming to himself as he restocked the medbay.

"Morning, Blades," Boulder said. "Have you seen Chase?"

"Not since yesterday, why?" Blades asked as he turned around.

Boulder was taken aback by the size and color of Blades' bruise. "I haven't seen him since Heatwave left for the mainland."

"Do you think he followed her?"

"Maybe. I'll check the security cameras."

"You'll have to ask Chief Burns for the password."

"Will do," Boulder quickly walked out of the medbay.

Blades went back to restocking.

xxx

"Chase, I know you can hear me, respond!" Chief said very annoyed into the comm link.

"Can't find him on any of the cameras, Dad," Dani said. "I'll ask Blades if he's willing to do a search from the air."

"No way, Dani!" Blades said.

xxx

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" Blades frantically searched the Sigma as he looked for clues to Chase's disappearance. He started to check Chase's room and was scared at what he found: a datapad on harming bots and journal on the missing mech's room.

xxx

Miko took out her cellphone and snapped a picture of the sleeping female Rescue Bot.

"Miko, is Heatwave still asleep?" Ratchet asked as he checked the monitor for energon veins.

"Yep," Miko said. "I thought Heatwave was a guy."

"She was..." Ratchet muttered. "She's probably getting some rest."

"Do you think when she wakes up, she can take me to the mini-mart?"

"Why do you want to go to the mini-mart?"

"Just craving some ramen."

"Well, wouldn't it be odd to see a 15 year old driving a fire truck to get some instant soup?"

"Yeah, I'll ask someone else."

xxx

Chase was on Wayward Island, thinking of his family history.

"Why was I cursed with such a family?" he asked.

"Curse?! HA!" a female voice said from behind.

Chase turned around. "Artimis?!"

"Surprised? Don't be, brother," the ruby eyed femme said.

"Why are you here?" Chase slowly reached for his firearm.

ZABANG!

xxx

Blades transformed as he landed.

"Chase?" he called out. "We got your distress signal!"

"Blades, are you sure you want to do this?" Dani asked.

"Yes, Chase could be hurt. Which is why I brought duck tape."

"It's duct tape, Blades."

"Heatwave said it was duck, not duct."

The energon tracker Blades brought with him began to beep.

"Whoa! What's going on?" Dani asked.

"Chase is hurt!"

xxx

"Ratchet, what are Heatwave and Bulkhead arguing about?" Rafael asked.

"What that super sticky gray tape is called," the medic grumbled.

["It's DUCK!"]

["I say it's DUCT!"]

["DUCK!"]

["DUCT!"]

Arcee and Jack rolled in.

"It's been so long since I've seen another-" Arcee then heard to two arguing. "Do I want to know?"

["It's DUCK TAPE!"]

"Seriously? Tape again?"

xxx

Did she really have to shoot me in the shoulder? Chase asked himself as he tried to move his right arm,

"Chase? Are you here?" Blades came into the clearing where the wounded mech was.

"Blades, I-I can't move my arm!"

Blades quickly used the duck tape to patch up Chase's shoulder. "How did this happen?"

"There another bot on the island, and we got into a confrontation."

"I'll contact Dad and tell him you need transport, Chase," Dani said.

"No! I'm not going back! I'm already corrupt!"

"Hey, you overreacted," Blades said. "And to be honest, I kinda deserved that punch for looking at Heatwave's backside."

"You did WHAT?!" Dani exclaimed.

xxx

Heatwave and Arcee were walking around the base and chatting.

"You have a holoform? That's noble!" Heatwave said.

"Yeah, I hate that thing," Arcee crossed her arms.

"Why? I'd like one. Then I can go out without Kade."

"Ratchet made a new one for me, but I don't want it," Arcee frowned.

"If you don't want it I'll take it!"

"Well, prepare for hell."

xxx

BANG!

"You found the nerve, Ratchet!" Blades squeaked as he doubled over.

"I'll handle the rest of Chase's surgery if you need a rest, Blades," Ratchet said.

xxx

"Do you think its possible Chase shot himself?" Graham asked Boulder as they looked for Chase's alleged assailant.

"Maybe he was high," Boulder said.

"That's not funny."

"It's not a joke. Chase used to be a druggie."

"Hard to believe he went clean!" a femme said.

"What the-"

ZAP!

SNAP!

"Gah!"


	6. Holoforms

Heatwave had no idea why Arcee didn't like holoforms. They were awesome!

"Y-you don't have a belly ache?" Arcee asked.

"I'm fine," Heatwave said in her new holoform.

"Nothing?!"

"Nope," Heatwave put a hand on her holoform's backside. "Is my backside big?"

"I have to pick Jack up from work," Arcee walked out of the extra storage room.

Heatwave continued to look at her holoform in the mirror. She quite liked the white sports bra and under shorts. She was 5'6", had dark brown hair in a short pony tail. She didn't like the greenish skin tone (that would eventually normalize), but her eyes were a pretty purple.

"Oh, my GOD!"

Heatwave turned around and saw a woman in scrubs.

"Uhhm… hi?" Heatwave waved a hand.

"Optimus Prime!" the woman ran off. "There is a woman in her underwear in the base!"

Xxx

Graham and Chase were sitting outside the sickbay, waiting for Ratchet to tell them about Boulder's condition.

"You have energon on your shirt," Chase noted, "You should wash it off before it stains."

"Not until I know Boulder's okay," Graham said.

A few moments passed.

"Is your skin burning?"

"A little."

"Change your shirt."

Xxx

"Mrs. Darby, this is Heatwave," Optimus said. "She was testing her new holoform when you walked in on her."

"I'm trying to find the outfits," Heatwave said.

"Optimus, can you give me a heads up next time?" Mrs. Darby asked.

"I will," Prime said.

Xxx

"There's no way that's true!" Kade said to Graham.

"I'm just saying what Boulder told me," Graham said as he put rash cream on his chest.

"But, Chase follows all the rules all the time," Cody said.

"We have to tell Dad when he gets back from the meeting," Dani said. "You saw what he did to Blades. Can you imagine what would happen if gets high?"

Cody went down the fire pole.

Xxx

Chase was lying on the couch, trying to recharge, when Cody walked in.

"Are you a druggie?" Cody asked.

"What?!" Chase fell off the couch. "What? No! What?"

"Were you high when you hit Blades?"

"I-I overreacted!"

"STOP LYING! YOU'RE LYING!"

"I'm not!" Chase clenched his fists.

"Did you do drugs?!"

"No!"

"You know you can't lie! Spit it out!"

Chase let out the most frustrated scream ever and ran away.

"Cody, what happened?" Ratchet asked.

"I-I think Chase is a drug addict!" a tear came from Cody's good eye.

Xxx

"Optimus, can I use the comm screen to check on my team?" Heatwave asked.

"Of course," Optimus turned on the comm screen and went to the contacts.

"I can handle it from here," Heatwave clicked on her team's vidcomm chat.

" _Hi, Heatwave!"_ Blades waved his hand.

"Hey, Blades. Your bruise is looking better."

" _Thanks."_

"How's Chase?"

" _I think he's still on the island. Not sure if he can transform yet."_

"As long as he doesn't get caught, I'll let it slide. Is Boulder okay?"

Blades got quiet. _"He was shot. Ratchet thinks it was a Decepticon."_

"How bad is it?"

" _He's recovering. He's got a thick hide, but Graham has a rash."_

"Show then your holoform!" Miko whispered.

"I'll show them when I get BACK to Griffin Rock!" Heatwave said.

Xxx

"Chase?" Ratchet called out. "Where are you?" he walked to a fenced off area. He walked around until he found the gate and went to open it when Chase came up behind and yanked Ratchet back.

"Hey!" Ratchet grabbed Chase's arm. "Don't sneak up on an old bot like that!"

"That area is dangerous to us bots!" Chase defended his action.

"Where were you?"

"I… needed some space."

"Well, we have to go back to the bunker before we're caught."

Chase nodded.

Xxx

"Blades, shouldn't you be keeping an eye on Boulder?" Dani asked.

"I did a minute ago," Blades said as he typed on the Cybertronian computer. "I'm just checking medical files."

"Whose?"

Blades was quiet for a moment. "Chase's."

"Why? Is it the drugs?"

"Just making sure rumors are rumors."

"Blades, why aren't you watching Boulder?!" Ratchet stormed in with Chase close behind.

"A-are those my medical files?!" Chase asked in shock.

"Yep," Dani said.

"Hmph! My own team no longer trusts me," Chase said as he left the room.

"What were you looking at?" Ratchet asked Blades.

"Chase's hospital visits," Blades said.

"Go watch Boulder, I'll look at the files."

Blades knelt down to Dani's height.

"Need a lift?" he asked.

"Nah, I'll help Ratchet" she said.

Two minutes later, Ratchet discovered something about Chase.

"Dani, come take a look at this."

"What is it?" she walked closer to the screen.

"Chase was admitted in his adolescence after he overdosed and almost died. Well, actually he was legally dead for a while. He also attempted suicide on several occasions."

" _Ratchet, did you put the sedatives in the wrong place? I can't find them,"_ Blades said.

Xxx

Chase looked at the vial of sedatives.

 _I won't do it._

He put it in his nightstand.

 _This time._

Xxx

It was around 8p.m. and Kade was checking his email.

[you sick BASTARD!] that was the message from Hayley.

 _What did I do to piss her off?_ He clicked on the email. "What the fucking hell?!"

"Kade!" Graham said from his room. "You know you're not allowed to cuss!"

"Hayley accused me of cheating on an affair site!"

Graham jogged into his brother's room. "Let me see."

Kade handed Graham his laptop.

Graham began to type something.

"Bro, what are you—I am NOT as DUMB as a CAVEMAN!"

"Too late!" Graham sent the email.

Kade snatched his computer back and continued to check his email.

"Hey, Yellowstone wants me and Heatwave to assist their fire department in July," Kade closed his laptop. "Should I go?"

"Maybe if Heatwave's okay with it," Graham said.

"Get out of here, bro!" Kade threw a pillow at him.


	7. Chase's Problem

Heatwave was cleaning up after she had an accident on a racetrack testing her alt mode.

Xxx

"This is gonna be sweet!" Miko said as she got into Heatwave's cab.

"Ugh, this is only a test run," Heatwave said.

"Jack, Bulk, Arcee, Bee! You gonna join in?"

"No," Jack, Bulkhead, and Arcee said together.

(I'll go a couple laps,) Bumblebee said as he nodded.

"Try not to get hurt," Ratchet grumbled. He knew this wouldn't end well.

"Buckle up," Heatwave said to her passenger.

Miko did so and went to grab the wheel.

"Hands off," Heatwave sternly said.

The fire engine and muscle car pulled up to the starting line on the old racetrack.

"(Ready?)"

"Yep, we are."

The two bots zoomed off and all was going well... until Heatwave somehow found herself teetering on the edge of a cliff.

"OMG! OMG!" Miko undid her seatbelt and climbed out. (A/N: you should probably NOT do that.)

"GYAAAHH!"

SPLAT!

"Heatwave! Are you injured?" Ratchet called as he and the others arrived.

"I'll be fine as soon as I get this gunk off of me! It stinks and its muck green!"

Xxx

Heatwave furiously scrubbed the removed armor, hoping she wouldn't smell for too long.

She had white cloths, made of a fabric similar to swimsuits, around the parts you weren't allowed to see.

"Miko is so dead!"

The washroom doors opened and Arcee limped in.

"Are you okay?" Heatwave asked.

"Yeah, some jerk hit me when I picked up Jack from school," Arcee said as she got the buffer. "I hope you're ready to go home tomorrow."

"I hope this stink goes away! I don't want to smell like a sewer system!"

Arcee laughed. "You'll need a lot of little trees."

Xxx

"Chase, you are so dead when Heatwave gets back," Blades told the police-bot before leaving the room.

Chase was now lying on his side, facing away from the door.

It's not my fault my sister shot Boulder, he thought.

Xxx

It was Kade's turn to cook dinner? What was he making? Chicken soup with ramen noodles, corn, peas, and baby carrots.

Cody came down the stairs and bumped into the counter.

"You okay?" Kade asked.

"Just still getting used to the eye patch," Cody said.

"Why don't you take it off then?"

"I don't want my eye to get damaged."

"Alright then. You ready for when Heatwave gets home?" Kade chopped up the baby carrots.

"Yeah, I really want to see the surprise she has."

"You told Frankie what happed, right?"

"Not exactly... I told Doc Greene, but he asked if Heatwave felt like he was a she before what happened to him... or her."

"O-okay, then..."

Kade got lost in thinking how to explain Heatwave's situation while chopping the carrots and cut off a little bit of finger skin.

Xxx

Heatwave was walking to the main room for her departure and came across a lobbing ball. She picked it up. Then she saw Bulkhead.

"Think fast!" she chucked it at him.

The Wrecker caught it.

"Nice throw!" Bulkhead said.

"Lobbing champ three years running!" Heatwave boasted.

"Bridge is ready, Heatwave," Ratchet said.

"Later 'gator," Heatwave waved 'bye' to Bulkhead.

Bulkhead got probably one of the stupidest ideas he ever had and yelled "Comin' in hot!" and threw the lobbing ball at Heatwave, who was turned the other way.

Heatwave dodged it and the ball hit Optimus in that part.

"Sorry, Optimus!" Bulkhead helped the Prime up.

"It's alright, Bulkhead," Optimus said an octave or two higher.

Xxx

The rescue team was all excited Heatwave was back.

"How are you?"

"Meet anyone new?"

"I heard you were in a crash! Are you okay?"

"What's the surprise?"

"One at a time, guys," Heatwave said. "I want to know how everyone is."

"Boulder's recovering from an injury caused by Chase's sister," Blades said, "and Chase got hurt before then by her. He left the island."

"I'll talk with him later about that."

"Doc Greene thinks you got gender bent on purpose," Cody said.

"Um, okay? I'll talk with him later, too. Anything else?"

"We might go to Yellowstone," Kade said.

"I'll have to see what Optimus says. Now, who wants to see my surprise?"

"Show us!"

"What is it?"

"I bet it's noble!"

"Watch this!" Heatwave transformed and a human came out of her.

"Ta-da!" the female firefighter said with Heatwave's voice.

Stunned silence from everyone.

"So, does it go to the bathroom?" Kade asked.

"Really, Kade?"

Xxx

Chase was lying on his back in his room. He had just injected himself with a small amount sedatives and a little bit of earth drugs.

Someone knocked on his door.

"Can I come in?" Heatwave asked.

Chase remained silent.

"Well, that isn't a 'no'," she walked in. "The frag you doing on the floor?"

"Contemplating my life life decisions," Chase said.

Heatwave sat down next to him. "I heard about Artemis. It's not your fault."

"I left the island. If I didn't, I wouldn't have been shot and neither would have Boulder."

"Well, now we know that Artemis is on earth. I'm going to tell Optimus about this."

Chase got up, threw Heatwave over his shoulder, and carried her to her room.

"Chase! What are you doing?!" Heatwave shouted as Chase threw her on the bed.

"You're not telling anyone," Chase said.

Heatwave knew that something wasn't right with Chase. "Did you relapse?"

"Don't tell anyone or I'll do something I'll regret," Chase slurred.

"Sedatives?" Heatwave got up and started to walk Chase to the sick bay.

"And earth drugs we confiscated."

Xxx

Heatwave was in her holoform in the Burns' kitchen, waiting for Chief Burns to finish his over-the-phone explanation for the confiscated earth drugs Chase used.

Kade put a sandwich on the table in front of her.

"Really?" she asked.

"It's PB&J. Try it," Kade pushed the plate closer to her.

"What does it mean? 'PB&J'?"

"Peanut butter and jelly."

Heatwave cautiously took a bite.

"Wow! This is good!" she said with a full mouth.

Chief walked back into the kitchen. "Bad news. Two FBI agents are coming here to investigate the entire team."

"Well, they know that there are four extraterrestrials here, right?"

"Different branch, Heatwave," Kade said.

"Okay, I'm confused about all these branches."

"We'll explain later," Chief said as he sat down. "Do you think you can tell us a bit about Chase's... problem?"

"Well, Chase and I grew up in the same neighborhood, on Cybertron, and his seemed perfect on the outside, nuclear, another family of heroes, all police, but inside... that's another story. His dad beat him up and his mother, sometimes his sister would join in. Chase would tell me about this and didn't want me to say anything. I got really scared when he topped showing up to primary school. I told the principle about what Chase's dad and sister did to him and his mother. The authorities went to his house, arrested his dad, got his mom to the hospital, put his sister in a foster home, but they couldn't find Chase. They found him in the slums of Kaon with some druggies. Turned out he ran away and hopped on a monorail where he met the druggies. I visited him in rehab almost every day for three months, after which, my family took him in. Now, in Nuon City, where we lived, fire and police didn't exactly get along. My two older brothers would mess with him with the usual pranks, all childish, and my little sister liked to put make up on him while he slept. He relapsed in secondary, but we got him clean again. We hid his drug abuse when we became Rescue Bots in training. I swear, he vowed never to touch drugs ever again when we graduated!" she said.

"I'm willing to give Chase a second chance, but I don't think the agents will understand," Chief said. "We may have to-"

"Chief Burns, Chase was under a lot of stress and not in his right mind and I bet he feels terrible about it all. Kicking him off the team will only make things worse."

"What are we gonna do with the agents, then?" Kade asked. "Let you guys introduce yourselves?"

Heatwave nodded.

(A/N: yep, Chase has some problems.)


	8. Chase Gets Help

Chase was hiding in his room when he heard a knock at his door.

"Chase, the agents want to talk with you," Heatwave said.

Chase opened his door and the agents walked in.

"I'll be right back," Heatwave said. "And, agents, remember what I warned you about."

Chase closed the door. "What did she warn you about?"

"Some things you may not want to talk about," the female agent said.

"Let's get crackin'. I'm Agent Stabler, my partner is Agent Benson," the male said.

"Like _Law and Order: SVU?"_

"Yeah, we get that a lot. When did you start drugs and why?"

Chase looked away. "The answer is 13, human years. I plead the fifth on the second question."

"Why did you do drugs this time?" Benson asked.

"A-a lot's been going on lately."

"Like the fact that Heatwave got gender bent?"

"And Blades looking at her backside and my sister returning!"

"Those are big stressors," Stabler said.

"What kind of drugs do you use?" Benson asked.

"I like sedatives. Opioids are kinda risky," Chase said.

"Why did you use the earth drugs, then?"

Chase looked further away. "I-I don't… know."

Xxx

"No, we are not going to allow anymore humans with our secret!" Heatwave protested.

"Chase may have attempted suicide. He needs psychiatric help," Stabler said.

"Maybe we should talk to Optimus about this," Blades told Heatwave.

Heatwave sighed and turned to the agents. "I'll consider your suggestion."

" _Absolutely not!"_ Agent Fowler said over the video conference with Heatwave and Optimus. _"We can't have anyone else know about the Autobots!"_

"Well, I don't want one of my teammates committing suicide! Optimus, what do you think?" Heatwave asked.

" _Agent Fowler, Unit E know of our existence, correct? Perhaps a psychologist there can assist Chase,"_ Optimus said.

" _I'll see if I can get some shrink recruits,"_ Fowler reluctantly said before signing off.

Heatwave let out a sigh and went to sign off as well.

" _Heatwave, you are doing the right thing,"_ Optimus said. _"What is the reason do you think Chase relapsed?"_

"E-everything that's been going on for the past two months, maybe when he found out about the genocide. I only want what's best for him. You understand, right?"

Optimus nodded. _"Yes. I do. I hear you will be going to a national park."_

"Yeah. Yellowstone. To be honest, Kade was given an indentation via email and Boulder says it will be good for learning more about humans… I'm actually kinda scared. I've never been to anywhere other tha the mainland base, Griffin Rock, and your base. I'm having second thoughts about it."

" _Heatwave, when will you go? Perhaps you will feel better if you discuss it with your team."_

"In summer. I'll consider your advice."

" _Good luck"_

Xxx

The bots were getting ready for a meeting called by Heatwave.

"D-do you think it's about me?" Chase asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Blades said as he crossed his arms.

"Seriously, Chase, what were you thinking when you took those earth drugs? You can't know what could've happened!" Boulder said.

Chase whimpered as he got into the fetal position.

"Blades, Boulder, quit it. This isn't about Chase. Well, not entirely," Heatwave said. "In a couple of months, Kade and I will be going to Yellowstone. My main concern while I'm gone is Chase's overall health and safety."

"In case he does something stupid?" Blades asked.

Heatwave got in his face. "My other concern. You and Boulder bullying and/or shaming him."

"B-but he's a different mech now! Not the Chase we knew before!" Boulder protested.

"Well, he's the SAME mech I know!"

"H-Heatwave… I think they're right," Chase said. "I-I don't deserve to be a Rescue Bot."

Heatwave put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "This is why we're getting you help. Agent Fowler is going to find a therapist for you."

"A new human?" Blades happily asked. "Y'know, I've been thinking of expanding my medical expertise."

"No," Chase said. "I don't want to reveal our existence to anyone else."

"Don't worry," Heatwave said. "Optimus and Agent Fowler are going to explain all that to the therapist."

"That didn't help before!" Chase stood up and grabbed Heatwave's shoulder. "I still have nightmares! Nightmares that will never go away! Ever! Why do you think I even relapsed in the first place?! For Primus' sake! I took them during training!" Chase started to cry as he hugged Heatwave.

"YOU DID DRUGS IN TRAINING?!" Blades and Boulder shot up.

"Not helping!" Heatwave said as she patted Chase's back. "That's it, buddy. Let it out, let it out."

Xxx

Dani and Blades were flying to the military base on the mainland where the bots first arrived on earth a month later to pick up Chase's therapist.

"So, Chase has been clean for a month. Isn't that great?" Dani asked.

"I guess…" Blades grumbled.

"What-what's wrong?"

"Chase did drugs in training. Why didn't I see it? He should have been kicked out."

"I don't think Chase wanted to relapse."

"Well, I don't believe the nightmare defense."

"Chase is a victim of child abuse. He wants to forget that it ever happened."

"Well, he could die for all I care!"

"You do NOT mean that!"

"I was being metaphorical."

"Well, it's a fucked up one. You know he probably tried to kill himself before, right?"

"He DID?!" Blades' optics widened and jaw dropped.

Xxx

Heatwave walked into Chase's room and saw him holding another vial of medicine.

"No," Heatwave took the vial and put it in subspace before checking Chase for needle marks.

"B-but I want to sleep!" Chase protested. "I-I can't without it!"

Heatwave sat hext to him on the berth. "Lie down." She laid his head on her lap.

"This is odd," Chase said.

"Just close your optics and go to sleep. I'm here for you and always will be until the end," she stroked his head.

Chase closed his optics and slowly fell asleep.

" _Heatwave, we're getting calls of smoke near Griffin Crest, let's go!"_ Kade said.

"On my way, Kade," Heatwave looked at Chase. She slowly slid out from under him and ran to the lift.

Kade clapped his hands. "Whoo! First emergency with my favorite coworker who I'm not related to!"

"Uh, yeah, this isn't our first time," Heatwave deadpanned before transforming and let Kade in.

"Psh! I can't believe you said that!" Kade buckled in.

"How is what I said funny?" Heatwave turned on her lights and sirens as she drove off to the emergency.

"Never mind that. I meant that to say that we—two amigos—are back on the job together."

"Thanks. I was getting work hungry. Now, how was what I said funny?"

"Well, when a human says, 'isn't my first time'… it can be taken as, well… y'know…? Adult sometimes?"

"What are you—oh!" Heatwave activated her holoform and slapped him in the face.

"Okay, I deserved that."

Xxx

Dani and Blades were flying back with the team's new therapist.

"So, what was your name again?" Blades asked.

"Doctor Michele Hernandaz," the woman who looked like a Latina Bernadette said.

"You look like—"

"Bernibette? I know. I get that a lot. So, Dani, I'll be staying at your place for a while, keep an eye on my patient, but what about after I move out? I'll still be seeing Chase once a week at the firehouse. Won't your neighbors be suspicious?"

"You also study human behavior, right?" Dani asked.

"Why, yes. Yes, I do."

"So, once a week, you'll be studying the behavior of people in our previously recorded emergencies."

"You know, that might actually work!"

"We look forword to working with you," Blades said.


	9. Coffee and Coming Out

Heatwave was running around the firehouse in her holoform.

"Whoa! Heatwave, why are you so hyper?" Chief Burns asked.

"I gave her coffee," Kade admitted as he held the empty pot. "She drank 12 cups worth."

"I can do the work of _**100**_ fire response bots!" Heatwave jumped up and down on the couch.

"God, she's really gonna have to go," Michele said.

"No, I WON'T!" Heatwave did six cartwheels and three backflips before accidently falling down the firepole.

"Heatwave!" Chief said as he, Kade, and Michele looked down the hole.

"Woo! I'm gonna run a marathon!" Heatwave jumped up and ran around the garage.

"Sometimes I forget that holofroms don't really get hurt," Michele said.

Kade slid down the pole, grabbed Heatwave, and held her tightly.

"What are you doing?!" Heatwave squirmed.

"All right, Hyper Piper, where's your alt mode?" Kade asked as he picked her up.

"The bunker! Can you put me down?"

"Stay still," Kade walked to the elevator.

"Son, where are you taking her?" Chief asked as he and Michele came down the pole.

"Her body. I have an idea."

"You know what, Kade?" Heatwave asked. "You're kinda cute!"

"Okay, weird!" Kade said as he, Chief, and Michele entered the elevator and into the bunker.

"Kade? What are you doing?" Chase asked.

"There's your alt mode!" Kade opened Heatwave's driver side door and put her in. "Okay, transform."

Heatwave dispersed her holoform and went into her bipedal mode. "Happy now? Whoa!" Heatwave almost fell, but Chase caught her.

"Are you okay?" Chief asked.

"I think I overcharged."

"'Overcharged'?" Michele asked.

"Oh, I've heard of that. It's like sugar high," Blades said. "Did she have anything sugary when she was in her holoform? Her model can turn any and all food and drink ingested into pure energy."

"A whole pot of coffee," Kade said.

"I'm guessing it wasn't decaf, was it?"

"Plain old coffee. The whole pot. Like, 12 cups."

"I guess she got a bit of an energy lapse when she transformed, like crashing from a caffeine high."

"I defiantly feel like I crash!" Heatwave said with a yawn.

"I will take you back to your cot," Chase picked her up and carried her to the Sigma.

Xxx

Heatwave was already recharging when Chase tucked her in.

He sat on the cot next to her and watched her recharge. He was starting to get odd feelings for her and they were worrying. He was afraid they were romantic. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but Heatwave was originally a mech. That machine turned Heatwave into a femme. A cute femme. Well, cute by Chase's standards. He looked to Heatwave as a brother, but now? After she helped him go to sleep? He was so confused.

" _Chase, are you ready to go on patrol?"_ Chief asked.

"Yes, sir," Chase stood up, hesitated, and petted Heatwave's crest.

Chase took the lift to the garage, transformed and, let his partner in.

"Am I doing good?" Chase asked.

"Yes, you're doing very good. I just wish we could get you into rehab, since that's what I would do if one of my kids did drugs," Chief said.

"So, I'm not doing good," Chase looked down as they began to drive.

"No, you are doing good, I just want to get more help for you. You understand that, right?"

Chase didn't say anything.

"Chase? Is everything okay?"

Chase remained silent.

"Chase, say something."

Chase hid himself behind the GPS.

"Oh, very mature," Chief rolled his eyes.

"I may have done something unwise," Chase said after a few minutes.

"Did you relapse?"

"No… no, I… contacted my old dealer. I-I hung up before she could answer, but I'm afraid she tracked the signal to here and… and I'm scared. She isn't dangerous, but she was a good friend and I don't want her to get hurt by my sister."

Chief let out a heavy sigh. "You know what this means, right?"

"Yes, contact Optimus."

"And you can't go on patrol, but since you were honest, I'll let it slide. But just this once."

Chase gave a huge sigh of relief. "Thank you, Chief. Thank you."

"Can you tell me her name?"

"Swindle. She has yellow-orange and black armor with heterochromia."

"How long have you known her?"

"Shortly before I began Rescue Bot training. I am sad to say that I am very ashamed. I would not blame the others if they decide to kick me off the team. I'm wondering if I'm still a good bot."

"You're still a good bot. you just made a few bad choices in your life. Understand?"

"Yes. Thank you. There is one other thing."

"What is it?"

"I believe I am developing a crush on Heatwave."

Chief almost spit out his coffee. "Okay, didn't see that one coming. When did this happen?"

"Last week. Is this bad? I know Heatwave's a mech… d-does this make me gay?"

"That isn't how it works, Chase. You're probably attracted to Heatwave because he's basically a girl now."

"Chief, you don't understand… our society is mainly homophobic and biphobic. But, oddly, we aren't transphobic. You also used incorrect pronouns when you mentioned Heatwave."

Don sped past them.

"Partner, we're going to have to discuss this later," Chief said as he turned on Chase's lights and sirens.

Xxx

Airachnid was walking to her quarters when she bumped into another femme.

"Who are _you_?" she spat.

"Artimis," the blue and white ruby eyed femme said. "A.K.A., your new roommate!" she jokingly batted her optics.

"What? No, no, no. I don't do 'roommates'," Airachnid crossed her arms.

"This may be only temporary, Airachnid," Megatron said as he walked up to them. "Who knows, perhaps you will enjoy a roommate, like Knock Out and Breakdown do."

"Those two are gay and everyone knows it."

"That is just a rumor."

"Nope, not a rumor, sir," a passing vehicon said.

"Everyone knows it. See?" Airachnid said.

"Just deal with your roommate. That is an order," Megatron left.

Airachnid and Artimis walked into their now shared quarters.

"So… who are Knockout and Breakdown?" Artimis asked.

Xxx

Heatwave groaned as she entered the bunker.

"Afternoon, Heatwave," Boulder said.

"What?! I-I was in recharge for five minutes!" Heatwave exclaimed.

"I told you not to drink the whole pot," Kade said.

"And I now regret it."

Chase came down into the bunker. "Heatwave, I need to discuss something with you… in private."

"Sure."

They walked into Chase's room.

"So, what is it?" Heatwave asked as they sat down.

"I'm gay," Chase hung his head.

"Did I hear that right?"

"I'm gay. I'm sexually attracted to you."

"Chase, we've known each other since we were basically sparklings. There's only _one_ of us who's a member of the LBGT+ community… and that's me."

"Well, you are transgender, so it—"

"No, I'm bisexual! But, I guess I'm sorta trans."

"Bi… sexual? Is that like being gay?"

"Well, a little bit. I'm sexually attracted to mechs and femmes."

"Like threesomes?"

"Ugh. Primus, no. I mean, sometimes a mech is hot to me, other times a femme."

"Oh. Would you care to make love?"

"Neither of us are ready. Why don't we think about this before we do anything crazy? Especially you. You just found out."

"If… we were to go out… would I still be gay?"

Heatwave shrugged her shoulder. "You could just be bi-curious."

Blades ran in. "I FOUND A NEW SHOW!"

Xxx

Kade sat down with the bots to watch '1000 Ways to Die'. (expect this for a while.)

"Aw! They're getting married!" Blades clasped his hands.

"Wait… is that screaming the—oh! Primus, SAKE!" Heatwave jumped up when she saw the pick-up driver cut in half and still alive.

"Something tells me we're gonna find out how Maul survived!" Kade said.

"I don't know whether to be grossed out or interested," Blades said as the tv explained how the guy was still alive.

"Oh, come on!" everyone said when they found out that the EMTs took the two halves to two different hospitals.

"Wait, can _you_ guys survive this?" Kade asked.

"Yes, we do have higher chance due to our biology," Chase said.

"Humans are more fragile than I thought," Boulder said.

"'Semi-cide'?" Heatwave questioned the title.

"A chicken lived for 18 months without its head?!" Blades exclaimed.

"He still had some brains left," Kade said.

"According to the internet, he died chocking on a piece of grain," Boulder said. "Oh, no… not him…" his optics widened when he saw a construction worker.

"This dump truck driver should have already been fired!" Chase declared.

"Drinking and driving's already bad enough," Blades said.

An interview with a coroner came up.

"Wait, is THAT a REAL BODY?!" Blades pointed at the screen.

"I… think it's a prop?" Kade said.

"Ohh… he was killed like a snake kills its prey," Boulder sadly said.

"A constrictor, to be precise," Chase said. "And I hope 'Tim' served jail time. Oh, like high grade and firearms is a good idea." He rolled his eyes.

"What's high grade?" Kade asked.

"Our version of alcohol," Heatwave said. "Now, let's see how these two bozos die."

"Don't shoot your brother!" Blades said.

"I don't know who I feel worse for, the guy or the rattlesnake," Boulder said.

"Yeah, he was just minding his own business."

"Just that little bit of venom can kill 1000 people?" Heatwave said in astonishment.

"I'd trust him, he's an animal expert," Boulder said.

"'Fang Banged'?" Vhase could not believe _that_ title.

"Oh! Kade, venom isn't poisonous! That's how you win back Hayley!" Blades said.

"Uh, no," Kade said. "I'll meet someone else."

"Yeah, red shirt, experiment!" Heatwave pumped her fists.

"Why are you so thrilled about bisexual curiosity?" Blades asked.

"Because she is bisexual, as well," Chase said.

"Chase!" Heatwave exclaimed.

"Dude, not cool!" Kade said.

"You don't do that!" Blades said.

"That's mean," Boulder said.

"Oh… I was… unaware," Chase looked down.

Everyone cringed when the girl got electrocuted.

"Yeah, that-that's lethal to us, too," Blades said.

"Our-our sparks kinda go 'poof'," Boulder added.

"'Lesbocution'?!" Heatwave shot up.

The mechs sat her back down.

"Who's God and why do people think in his name?" Chase asked.

"I'll explain later," Kade said.

"Okay, black market dealers deserve to die."

"He deserved to be bitten by Evalira," said.

Blades opened his mouth.

"Not drinking it, either," Kade said.

"Natural selection or stupidity?" Heatwave asked.

"Perhaps both," Chase said.

"Well, at least the animals lived—wait, TWO WEEKS?!"

"I didn't know that mosquitos were so deadly," Blades said.

"Oh, no!" everyone said when 'Hector' got trapped in an industrial dryer.

"He's gonna be barbequed!" Blades covered his eyes.

"He's trapped!" Boulder said.

"Didn't this happen on 'Bones'?" Chase asked.

"Oh, man, he got tenderized _and_ baked!" Kade said.

"20 people die like this a YEAR?!" Heatwave's jaw dropped.

"Of course, adolescents would try that," Chase rolled his eyes again.

"Oh! Oh! Oh! That EMT got hit!" Blades covered his eyes again.

"Ragdoll! Ragdoll!" Kade said.

"Oh, wow, he lived!" Heatwave said.

"Interesting mustache," Chase noted.

"What are grape-nuts?" Boulder asked.

"Anyone up for another?" Blades asked.

"Yep," the others said.


	10. That Awkward Moment

Michele and Dani joined Kade and the bots in the bunker.

"First season of '1000 Ways to Die'?" Michele asked.

"Yep," Kade said as he stole his sister's chips.

"The show hit its height when Rob Paulson was the narrator."

"Sheesh! When we sleep we really do sleep," Heatwave said.

"Anything involving mobs is bad," Chase said. "Especially, meat packing."

"That's not a good prank," Blades said.

"Oh, I've had frostbite. It's not fun," Dani said.

"Where?"

Dani took off her shoes and socks to reveal two missing toes, the little ones on both feet.

"I thought it was a good idea to run around barefoot in the snow in my four year old mind," she said.

"But, why kill him like that?" Boulder asked.

"Oh!" Chase covered Heatwave's eyes when he realized the CG model had… boy bits showing.

"Chase, I've seen cables and spikes before," Heatwave said.

"Uh, excuse me?" Kade asked.

"Those are two names for Cybertronian pe—"

"Blades, no!" the other three bots covered Blades' mouth.

"I-it's embarrassing," Boulder said.

"Illegally selling products may not be a good idea, but not for killing. "But, impregnating a minor and getting killed is street justice!" Chase declared.

"Paradoxical undressing… we should look out for that," Blades said, making everyone groan.

"Wait, they DIDN'T die in the crash?" Heatwave asked.

"Oh, boy. The bends," Dani said.

"What's—oh, wait, they're explaining it," Blades said.

"Do we have a hyperbaric chamber?" Boulder asked.

"We're getting a new one next month," Dani said. "You can look at the old one if you want."

"Wow! Thanks!"

"Oh, my Primus! We can get that!" Blades panicked.

"Blades, we would have known by now," Heatwave facepalmed.

"No! Dani and me! We've flown in and out of water TWICE and you're not supposed to dive and fly on the same day!"

"Okay, he's got a point," Kade said.

"That looks like an emergency response plane," Chase noted.

"Oh, yeah. Fire and rescue," Heatwave said.

"So that's why it's called the bends," Boulder said.

Xxx

Swindle checked her merchandise. She had 20 cases of new, high content sedatives ready to sell. She could get quite her share of shanix if her most loyal customer came through for her. She looked at her maps. "Only one or two lunar cycles tops until I reach 'ee-arth'? whatever, I'll get paid in due time."

Xxx

Dreadwing saw Megatron coming from the direction of the sick bay.

"Lord Megatron, may I—"

"Not now," Megatron walked past him with a look that said 'I've seen things I shouldn't have' written on his face.

He walked over to the sick bay to see what startled the warlord.

"Oh, hey, Dreadwing!" Breakdown said as he prevented him from entering.

"I just ran into Megatron," Greadwing said. "He had an odd look on his face. Would you happen to know why?"

"Oh, uh… y-you see… Knockout and I were having some… _personal_ time in our quarters when—"

"Oh. Oh! Okay, never mind!" Dreadwing quickly left. _Why did I do that?!_

Xxx

"Wow! Now we're learning about a new culture!" Boulder excitedly said.

"They use human bodies for their religion?!" Chase exclaimed. "How barbaric!"

"There needs to be a better way to solve problems," Heatwave said.

"Chase, don't snort that," Kade pointed at the voodoo powder on the screen.

"Kade!" everyone scolded.

"I do not snort; I have what humans call 'asthma'," Chase crossed his arms.

"I really need to look up how many ways humans can get poisoned," Blades said.

"Oh, that's my worst nightmare!" Michele grabbed Kade's arm during the 'buried alive' part.

"It's all of ours," Boulder said.

"Those grave robbers deserve to get scared," Chase said.

"The NAILS!" Blades covered his optics.

"Okay, NONE of us are googling 'fish fetish'!" Heatwave ordered.

They just watched the actor 'die'.

"You know, we sorta sweat," Blades said.

"Yeah, no-fire-bots," Heatwave said.

"Heatstroke is NOT fun," Kade crossed his arms.

They saw an actor get 'eaten' by birds after betraying his tribe.

"How did the anthropologists find THAT out?" Boulder asked.

"Oh! Oh! Dani and I've seen this video!" Blades jumped up and down. "She survives and they find out she's pregnant!"

"We've all seen the video, Blades," Heatwave said.

"And every time it scares me," Chase said.

"Roll the next video!" Blades said.


	11. Star Wars Fight

Heatwave walked into the bunker with some energon for her team. "Let me guess what the mummy's in the hospital for, burns?" she handed her team their energon.

"Yes, and ironically his surname is 'Burns'," Chase said. He then motioned for her to sit on his lap.

Heatwave was okay with it since he was on the edge of the couch.

The others were looking at them funny when Chief Burns walked in.

Chief sighed. "Chase, I thought we went over this."

"Sir, I think it's best that we see how this goes," Heatwave said.

"Are you sure?"

"Chase and I talked about this. He's just confused."

"I am… wait, you're right," Chase sadly said.

"Well, I better help Cody with his summer homework," Chief left.

"Oh, that human has no common sense!" Heatwave said as she adjusted herself on Chase's lap.

Chase got a bit surprised.

"And nature shall happen!" Blades said as the dummy rolled down the handicap ramp and ignited. "Huh, I didn't know fourth degree burns existed."

"Reminds me of a bot my team and I found blown up back home," Heatwave said. "It was nasty."

Everyone but Chase laughed at what the death was titled.

"What is so amusing about that form of interface?" he blushed hard.

Kade paused the show as the other bots laughed harder.

"That's what they call sex," Michele whispered to Dani and Kade.

Kade unpaused as the bots calmed down.

"Oh, my roommates died of S.U.N.D.S.," Blades sadly said. "The poor femme had PTSD."

"I remember that," Chase said. "We never found the bot we deemed responsible…"

"This 'Little E' guy deserves to die," Heatwave said as 'Little E' said some rather upsetting things about females.

Chase held her close. "Heatwvae, I would never, NEVER allow someone to say those things to you and let them stay—at the very least—intact."

"Are you two dating?!" Kade and Dani asked as Boulder watched in amazement at the accidental electric chair.

"Let's focus back on the show," Heatwave said.

"Since when are mushrooms magic?" Blades asked.

"It's drugs," Michele said.

"That explains a few things," Chase said.

"That's a huge stereotype about furries," Blades said.

"That's not a—too late," Boulder said as the actor was 'killed' by a bear.

"How did they not hear him?" Heatwave asked.

"Well, are you?" Kade asked.

"I'm just helping him with this odd time in his life."

"And we are also the only two queers on the team," Chase said.

"Oh, Chase, remember the 'no-no' words we discussed?" Michele asked.

"Well, you know what I meant, correct?"

"Y-you kinda said it wrong," Heatwave said.

"Now that I think about it Heatwave could be on her heat cycle," Blades said.

Heatwave spat out her energon. "WHAT?!"

"Don't worry, not all femmes know at first."

"Uh, that doesn't mean what I think it does, does it?" Kade asked.

"Unfortunately, it does," Boulder shook his head.

"Would you like me to defend your honor?" Chase asked.

"Hmm…," Heatwave gained a mischievous look.

Xxx

"Cody, guess who came to visit," Chief said as he walked in with Doc Greene and Frankie.

"Hey, Frankie," Cody said as he wrote his name on his summer homework.

"Hey back," Frankie sat next to him. "How's Heatwave?"

Chief led Doc away to talk.

"She's doing better," Cody said.

" _Guys, you gotta come down here!"_ Kade said.

Xxx

Doc, Graham, Chief, Cody, and Frankie entered the bunker.

"What's going on?" Chief asked.

"Chase is defending my honor," Heatwave said. "Doc, Chief Burns explained my… situation… right?"

"I completely understand now," Doc said.

Chase and Blades walked back into the bunker dressed as a Jedi and Sith.

"Do I want to know what happened?" Chief asked.

"A lot of complicated," Boulder said.

"Why am I the Sith? I wanna be a Jedi!" Blades pouted.

"One: I am the most like a Jedi, and two: you asked Heatwave a far too personal question," Chase said.

"Boulder, did you make those costumes?" Graham asked.

"I did," Boulder said.

"Nobel," Cody said.

"Those are toy lightsabers, right?" Frankie asked.

"They are," Dani said.

"Now, boys, start dueling," Heatwave leaned against the wall.

Chase and Blades activated the toy lightsabers and tried dueling like in the 'Star Wars' movies.

"Ow! Chase. Ow, ow, ow. Force choke!" Blades pretended to Force choke Chase.

"Darn you, Darth Blades!" Chase pretended to be choked. "Force shove!"

"Oof!" Blades jumped back and purposely fell. He threw his toy lightsaber at Chase.

Chase caught it by the handle and walked over Blades and put the lightsabers the medic's neck, much like Anikin did to Count Dooku in 'Revenge of the Sith'.

"Do you surrender, _Darth Blades_?" Chase asked.

"I think we both know the answer to that, Jedi Master Chase," Blades put his hands by his head. "I give."

"Well, I'm glad that you managed to sort that out without anyone having to get off-duty time," Chief said.

Chase helped Blades up.

"Do you want to see the first 'Clone Wars' show later?" Blades asked.

"Perhaps," Chase said. "Let's get out of these Force user outfits."

The two bots walked back into the Sigma.

Xxx

The bots were back on the couch and Graham had joined his siblings and Michele to watch the show.

"Now, how does this guy die?" Heatwave asked as she sat back down on Chase's lap.

"Um, guys?" Graham turned to the other humans.

"It's complicated," the humans said.

"Ohh! What's the trick?" Blades asked the tv. Then the tv explained it. "Ew..."

"I had no idea that que balls were bigger," Boulder said.

"You know, bots can technically suffocate," Heatwave said.

"I thought you didn't breathe," Dani said.

"We sorta breathe to cool down our systems in bot mode or we'll overheat," Blades explained.

"That explains why you sometimes pant after a big emergency," Kade said.

"Oh! Another one of these!" Chase covered Heatwave's eyes and held her close.

Everyone let out a 'hell, yeah' when the peeping tom got his neck broken.

"Oh, cool, another survivor," Heatwave said.

Blades began to whimper when he realized it was going to be a helicopter crash. "AAH!" he covered his eyes when the wreck happened.

"Blades, it's okay," Dani said. "I know how to do a hovering autorotation."

"But what about me?! That's lethal to a bot!" Blades hugged his knees to his chest. "And I've seen those crashes!"

"We don't have that soft dirt on our planet that this one does," Heatwave said.

The emergency alarm went off.

"Well, duty calls," Heatwave stood up. "Rescue Bots! Roll to the rescue!"

(A/N: I've decided female Heatwave's VA would be Grey Deliese)


	12. Heatwave's First Boss

Heatwave and Chase were sitting on the couch waiting for '1000 Ways to Die' to load.

Heatwave had damaged her ankle during the rescue after landing funny, so Chase had rested her feet in his lap as he massaged them.

"That's really nice of you, Chase," Heatwave said.

"Do you want to go out with me?" Chase asked.

"Chase, you are good mechfriend material, but… I honestly think we should wait before doing anything crazy first. Oh! The show's starting."

The first death showed up: a skyscraper in L.A.

"Man, this makes me miss the buildings on Cybertron," Heatwave said.

"Ugh. A megalomaniac," Chase scowled in disgust at the actor.

"Just because you're a leader, doesn't mean you can hit on every new chick you hire. And I should know. It can happen to mechs, too."

"What did THAT happen?!"

"The first fire station I worked at. The mech found out I was bi and said could either sleep with him or kiss my career good-bye. I called the cops on him anonymously and moved."

"Good move. Now let's see what happens to this bastard."

"Yeah!" both bots cheered as the guy jumped out the window on accident.

"I would have made him suffer, though," Chase said.

The segment in Arizona when the second death came.

"Hey, in that heat you have to prevent fires by clearing brush," Heatwave said. "I've been studying human fire departments."

"That chipper is very terrifying," Chase said as Boulder walked in.

"It's actually very useful," Boulder said. "Graham and I used one last week." Then he saw the small actor try to get the branch unstuck. "Oh, boy. He didn't see the labels, did he?"

"What labels?" Heatwave asked.

"The warning labels."

"Oh!" Chase covered his optics as 'Dale' 'died'.

"Tiny, pull him out!" Heatwave said.

"Too late," Boulder sighed.

"Natural selection!" Blades said as he quickly walked in, mike dropped, and left because he didn't feel like being around Heatwave and Chase.

Xxx

Michele was making herself a sandwich when the Burnses and Frankie entered the kitchen.

"Michele, can we ask you something?" Chief said.

"Fire away," Michele said.

"Why is Heatwave using female pronouns instead of male?" Frankie asked.

"We've been respecting her choice, but…" Dani trailed.

"We are _so_ confused," Kade said.

"Well, from my talks with Chase, transgendering is viewed like normal transforming but with genders and pronouns are determined by frame," Michele said.

"Frame?" Graham asked.

"You mean… body type?" Cody couldn't believe what he was saying.

"I'm pretty sure that's what they mean," Michele said. "Chase says that's how their culture works and that we wouldn't understand."

"Well, we don't," Kade said.

"I think we all need to let sink in."

Xxx

"Wow, that is a big basketball," Heatwave said when death #3 introed.

"And two horny teenagers," Chase said.

Heatwave and Boulder burst out laughing.

This puzzled Chase. "What is so amusing?"

"You-you-you said 'horny teenagers'!" Heatwave fell off the couch.

"It was the way you said it and your voice pattern!" Boulder had to sit down.

"I… sound funny?" Chase asked.

"No, Chase. Sometimes, you word things in an amusing way and your natural voice makes things funny," Heatwave said.

"Okay, let's get back to the show," Boulder said.

"The two humans wish to mate in a giant basketball?" Chase's optics widened as Heatwave and Boulder burst out laughing again.

"And they sound funnier that you!"

"And they're suffocating to death," Heatwave said.

"Who found them?" Chase asked.

The death #4 came to play.

Who's the lucky person who got _that_ frame?" Heatwave asked.

"A-apparently, J-J.T.," Chase stammered.

"Everything alright, Chase?" Boulder asked.

"I-I'm gay. I-I'm not supposed to like femmes!"

"Okay, we've reached a new level of weirdness."

"Let's focus back on the show," Heatwave said.

"This individual is too intoxicated to handle getting rid of hornets," Chase said.

"Yeah. Skip getting laid and call a professional moron."

"Maybe there should be a stinging insect relocation squad," Boulder said.

"W-why would anyone _join_ that squad?" Heatwave arched an eyebrow.

Then J.T. got out a paintball gun.

"Firearms are NOT the answer to everything!" Chase said.

"True," Heatwave and Boulder both said.

"Oh, great! He's allergic!" Heatwave said. Her optic widened when she realized that Kade was allergic too. "I'll… be right back." She took the lift up the garage and left.

Blades walked back into the bunker. "Chase, you're not gay."

"Wh-what?!" Chase was taken aback.

"You looked up to Heatwave as a brother, and now that he's a femme…" Boulder trailed.

"You and Heatwave being all datey is _really_ weird," Blades said.

"It just seems… _wrong."_

Blades got between him and the _Sigma._ "We're not trying to be rude! Honest!"

Chase pushed past him and locked himself in his room.

Xxx

Airachnid was looking through her new 'roommate's' things, trying to find out more about the femme.

She found some datapads, unlocked.

 _What a rookie!_ She smirked.

She looked through them. It was nothing much. Just stupid girly stuff… but with a dark twist.

 _Well, all of us are pretty dark, even before the war._

She found pictures of Artimis with an Autobot femme. A seeker medic.

 _Must be a femmefriend. I can tell._

She found a video that confirmed her suspicions.

 _Perhaps I can use this as—_ "AH!" Airachnid spun her head around and saw Artimis touching her backside.

Artimis gave her a squeeze. "Watch'a doin'?"

"U-u-uh, j-j-just l-looking," Airachnid put back the datapads.

Artimis wrapped her arms around the Insecticon. "If you try to blackmail me, my father and I will _destroy_ you." She pulled Airachnid close. "His name is 'Barricade' by the way."

 _Oh. Scrap._

Xxx

Heatwave walked up to Chase's door and knocked. "Chase? Can you let me in?"

"Fine," Chase dully said.

Heatwave walked in and saw Chase hugging his pillow.

"What if they're right?" Chase asked. "What if I'm not gay? I don't think I'm bi either. What in the AllSpark am I?"

Heatwave sat down next to him.

"Maybe you're something else," she said. "When I was an adolescent, I thought something was wrong with me. Then I went on the datanet and did some research and found out about bisexuality. Maybe you need to do some research of your own."

"Thank you, Heatwave," Chase said. "Now, where did you go?"

"I went to ask Kade if he had his allergy medicine up to date. You know he's allergic to bees."

Xxx

Blades was pretty upset that the show was no longer availbile.


End file.
